THIS is the brazen moment a prolific thief stole a £6,000 diamond ring from under a jeweller’s nose.
Claudia Rostas was part of a Romanian gang known for travelling the country to rip-off jewellers.
Footage showed the 33-year-old carrying out a “sophisticated” sting family-run jewellers Hamilton‘s in Christchurch, Dorset.
Rostas had distracted staff by getting them to gift wrap the £5,750 ring in a box before pretending to change her mind.
The video then shows her asking the staff member for different paper and ribbons as part of her confusion ploy.
As the jeweller momentarily turns her head, Rostas removes the ring, shuts the box, puts it back in its sleeve and hands it back to her.
Rostas then counts out her cash only to “discover” she doesn’t have enough to pay.
She told staff she will get the rest from her mum who is apparently outside – seemingly leaving the ring behind.
The video shows the three members of staff waiting for her to return only to the open the ring box to find it empty.
Rostas and her fellow gang members have previous convictions for identical thefts in Teeside, Kent, Devon, London, Bradford and Rotherham spanning more than a decade.
She was identified for the Dorset crime through CCTV and was arrested at Stansted Airport after returning from Romania.
At the time, Rostas was the subject of a conditional discharge sentence for an offence in Kent.
She pleaded guilty to theft but avoided jail after her lawyer told the court she has a terminally ill son she needs to care for.
Rostas was instead made subject of an order that bans her from every shop in England and Wales – except for food stores and chemists – for a year and given a 26-week suspended sentence.
Guy Gosheron, defending, said Rostas made £750 from the theft, which she used to treat her sick son.
He said she already lost a child to cancer in 2022 and now her 12-year-old son has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and a brain tumour and has a life expectancy of up to three years.
Judge Orla Austin said Rostas was a “dishonest woman” who had shown “limited remorse”.
Judge Austin said: “This was a sophisticated, deliberate distraction theft. Ultimately you are a skilled thief and used your skill to take that ring which has now disappeared and cannot be recovered.
“I make it clear I have considerable reservations about your honesty. You tell me you very sadly had one child who passed away through cancer and now have another.
“Mr Gosheron has seen documentation which seems to corroborate that. I am just prepared to give you one final opportunity and suspend your sentence.”
